Cry Havok: Tactical Quick-Release Barrel Kit for the AR-15 Family of Rifles

By Thomas Murphy

“Cry ‘Havoc,’ and let slip the dogs of war.” This is a familiar saying to those who had to memorize Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar back in school. However, the phrase actually first saw the light of day when it was published in the Black Book of the Admiralty in 1385. It had to do with a call for revenge using everything at the navy’s disposal.

These days, a company located in Palm Bay, Florida, has appropriated the saying as their company name. And … considering their products, they might not be far out of line. Cry Havoc Tactical (CHT) is marketing a quick-release barrel kit for the AR-15-type rifle (QRB Kit). The idea behind the barrel release kit is to have an AR-15 rifle, or carbine, that is small enough to fit into a backpack. If you have a barrel at least 16 inches in length, about the shortest rifle you could own would be slightly over 25 inches in length, counting the receiver group and the barrel. Disassembling the rifle by pulling the two push pins still leaves you with an upper receiver/buttstock too long to fit comfortably into a standard backpack.

Cry Havoc Tactical took a hard look at some AR-15 short rifle conversions; however, most of them didn’t hold zero when broken down and reassembled or were unnecessarily complicated. CHT decided that rather than separating the rifle by using the push pins, they would design a barrel release kit that separates the barrel from the upper receiver. That way, the overall package could easily fit in a laptop case or briefcase without having to go the route of building and papering a short barrel rifle (SBR). An SBR by definition is a rifle that has a barrel less than 16 inches in length, or less than 26 inches in overall length. These are controlled under the National Firearms Act (NFA) and require approval from the BATFE. Until you get the BATFE approval letter, you cannot have possession of the parts needed to build an SBR. The ATF...

This article first appeared in Small Arms Review V21N6 (July 2017)and was posted online on May 19, 2017